The Ghost of Gotze: Super Mario returns to haunt crisis-hit Dortmund

The 21-year-old Bayern Munich star all but ended his former side's Bundesliga hopes in a game that leaves Dortmund's season hanging in the balance

COMMENTBy Enis Koylu

When it rains, it pours. A month ago, Borussia Dortmund were sitting pretty, right in the thick of the race for the Bundesliga title and set to make it out of this season's Champions League group of death after a impressive victory away to Arsenal.

Now, they are staring at what seemed impossible after an intense summer of rebuilding: an early end to their title challenge and a do-or-die clash in Europe with Napoli.

GOTZE SCORES!! BAYERN ARE AHEAD!! Dortmund's fans fall silent as the man that deserted them in the summer controls a pass from Muller on the right and sends a sumptuous effort into the left corner with the outside of his right foot.

It seems that everything that could have gone wrong over the last month has gone wrong. First, a surprise loss in the return fixture against the Gunners, who scored with their first credible chance of the game after BVB had squandered a number of opportunities, left them on the brink in Europe.

Then, the injuries came. Days later, they lost Neven Subotic in a 2-1 defeat to Wolfsburg and the international break saw Marcel Schmelzer and Mats Hummels succumb to knocks while on Germany duty.

Even so, they would have lived in hope of pulling off a surprise result against Bayern, given their superior record over the Bavarians in recent years and the hint of romance that has surrounded the Westfalenstadion over recent years.

It was not to be. Once again, everything went wrong for Jurgen Klopp's side. Bayern were oddly sluggish in the game's opening exchanges struggling to trouble BVB's cobbled-together defence and gifting their hated rivals a plethora of chances.

But the ability to finish abandoned first Robert Lewandowski, then Marco Reus and Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

Then the unthinkable happened. Mario Gotze, the former golden boy of the Ruhr giants, rose from the bench to break Borussia hearts. Within minutes, he silenced crescendo of boos that greeted his arrival with a fantastic goal, showing the sort of finesse his former team-mates and successors were sadly missing.

His arrival changed everything and won Bayern the match. Prior to his entry, the Bavarians were offering precious little and the underdogs looked the likelier to steal the points. Thanks to him, Bayern were able to add considerable gloss to the result, adding a second and a third in the closing minutes to rub salt into Dortmund's wounds.

And so Bayern march on. The Bundesliga was supposed to be a two-horse race this year, but Pep Guardiola's side have taken a critical advantage before November is over, placing themselves seven points clear of last season's runners-up.

As for BVB, they must dust themselves off and focus on the challenges ahead, most pertinently the visit of Napoli on Tuesday. Lose, and their horror month will have killed their season.